By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder Tony DiMaio has been in the restaurant business for 40 years — and he is only 54 years old. The chef and co-owner of Christina’s Restaurant and Tavern on the French King Highway in Erving began working in a relative’s restaurant as a teenager and hasn’t stopped cooking since. He worked as a …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder “I’m the whole show,” Helen Baker told me. She is the proprietress of Baker’s Country Store and Luncheonette on Route 116 in Conway — and it’s a truly one-woman enterprise. She sells groceries, breakfast and lunch in the one-room store/dining room. She also takes money for …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder One of our area’s smallest restaurants is also one of its best. The Gypsy Apple Bistro in Shelburne Falls has room for only 20 diners, plus 12 on its diminutive patio in warmer months. Nevertheless, since its opening in 2007 it has attracted patrons from near …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder The view from the Alvah Stone is breathtaking. Perched above the Sawmill River in an old gristmill on Greenfield Road in Montague, the restaurant features large windows that give diners the …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder A few years ago, Andrea Beaudoin was all business. Today, her business — Hearty Eats on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls — has a lot of heart. The 30-year-old Conway resident …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder Kali B’s Wings & Things has undergone a massive trans- formation since arriving on the Franklin County food scene a little over a year ago. In June of 2013, owners Jim …
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I have always loved Indian food, so I was thrilled last year when I saw a handwritten sign at a storefront on Main Street in Greenfield indicating that an Indian restaurant was coming to town in 2013. The …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Greg Rowehl has homes in New York City and West Hawley. A lover of good food and of good pizza in particular, he spent months eyeing the empty storefront on Main Street in Charlemont that …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Jerry’s Place is a South Deerfield institution. Open daily for breakfast and lunch, except on major holidays, this Main Street eatery celebrated its 23rd birthday earlier this month. “I opened up on April 1,” owner …
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Family is paramount at Johnson’s Farm Restaurant, Sugarhouse, and Gift Shop. Steve Johnson and his wife Diane are the fourth generation to run the farm on Wheeler Avenue in Orange, which the family acquired in 1900. Their children …
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By TINKY WEISBLAT Special to The Recorder Great Falls Harvest is a mom-and-pop restaurant ... literally. Husband and wife Chris Menegoni and Bridgette Chaffee are the proud parents of a six-year-old girl who is wise beyond her years …
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The Trail TOC Diner on Route 2 in Shelburne is a bright space. The walls are a vivid green; the menus come in day-glow tones. The proprietress, Bonnie Brown, tends to sport bright colors as well. On the …
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When Tropical Storm Irene hit our area in 2011, one of its major casualties was the Deerfield Inn, along with the inn’s eatery, Champney’s Restaurant and Tavern. The river proximity that made Deerfield attractive to English settlers in …
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Peter Langlois has honed his menu with care and flair. That was clear when the chef and business owner sat down with me recently at the Arts Block on Main Street in Greenfield to talk about his café …
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Hattaporn Wattanarat wasn’t sure she could survive in the United States, she recalled in a recent interview. She didn’t object to the climate or the people ... but the food stymied her. The Thai native moved to this …
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